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President’s View
In the past month, FIH again had great pleasure in announcing that another major television deal had been signed which will increase hockey’s exposure in some of our key developmental countries.
The four-year deal with ESPN to broadcast all major televised WorldHockey events in Latin America until the end of 2008 is the second major television broadcast deal secured by FIH in the past month.
This deal complements the one signed with Ten Sports in April, with the South Asian broadcaster securing the rights to in the Indian Sub-Continent, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
As was illustrated by the outstanding success of the women’s BDO Hockey Champions Trophy in Argentina last year, the people of Latin America are devoted to hockey.
Securing coverage for our major events in one of the most passionate hockey loving regions in the world will give fans a chance to watch the stars of our sport at the best international tournaments regardless of where they are being played.
Importantly, the ESPN deal also includes an agreement to broadcast WorldHockey TV, FIH’s new four-weekly magazine-style programme.
The premiere episode of this exciting initiative is ready to be distributed to broadcasters, so keep a close watch on www.worldhockey.org for more details on the programme and where it will be shown around the world.
The coming months are extremely important for all 28 sports currently on the Olympic programme and the five who have ambitions to participate at the 2012 Games.
At the IOC’s Extraordinary Session in Mexico in 2002, a decision was made to cap the numbers for the Olympic Games to 28 sports, 301 events and 10,500 athletes and to review the composition of the sports programme after each Olympic Games.
As a result, at the ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations) General Assembly in Berlin in April, member federations were told that in order to retain their position on the Olympic program for the 2012 Games, sports must receive more than 50% of a vote to be taken by all IOC members in Singapore on 8 July.
On 7 June, I will attend an ASOIF Extraordinary General Assembly in Geneva in my capacity as a member of the Council of ASOIF to discuss the voting procedure for the sports programme for the 2012 Olympic Games as decided by the IOC Executive Board.
FIH Vice President Tony von Ondarza will also be present at the meeting where we will seek clarification on a number of questions related to the voting procedure.
The Extraordinary General Assembly has been called because member federations have not yet had the opportunity to discuss the voting procedure after the format was announced in Berlin.
While FIH is confident that hockey will be retrained on the Olympic programme for 2012, we must be vigilant in the lead-up to the vote in Singapore to ensure our presence at the Games continues.
Els van Breda Vriesman
FIH President
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